Saturday, August 22, 2020

The Essential 7 Best Types Of Rideshare Driver Apps

A lot of people are working as ridesharing drivers every day and many of them are either new to this line of work or at least not experienced enough to know how to make driving more efficient. This is where rideshare driver apps make a huge difference. As a ridesharing driver you are an independent contractor, and you need to personally take care of your taxes and insurance bills. Also, ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft provide drivers with a limited types of apps that are not capable of offering everything you will need.

In this article we will show you the best of the best apps you will need to make the most money by saving more money and time and by driving more efficiently and hopefully increasing your tips.

 

Rideshare Apps For Drivers

 

As a ridesharing driver, you have several needs while driving:

  • You need to keep an accurate record of your miles
  • You will want to keep an itemized expense deductions list for year end taxes
  • You will want to integrate your mileage and expenses into the easiest tax payment software
  • You will want to get cashback on gas if possible and earn money for referring drivers and passengers to Uber & Lyft
  • You want the best GPS navigation software to make you faster
  • You want apps that show you where more people for picking up are located and when to go there
  • You want an app that can give you roadside assistance in case you have a car problem
  • You want a music app for you & your passengers entertainment (trust us you will get bored)

 

Some of these apps require a paid subscription while others offer free or limited versions. If you want to work smarter not harder, we recommend picking one or two of these from each category listed they will not only help you make money, but they are critical to more success.

 

Best Apps For Rideshare Drivers

 

1. Mileage Tracking & Tax Management Apps

You MUST have an accurate mileage tracking app and use it to keep a record of your driven miles while rideshare driving. When you calculate your year end taxes to the IRS, you may need proof of your traveled distance if the IRS should ever audit you. More importantly you just need to keep track of your miles so you get the tax deduction you are owed. You will also want to keep track of all expense bills which are deductible from your rideshare work & compare all expenses against IRS per mile deduction and see which is higher so you maximize your earnings.

 

Here are our only recommended mileage & tax apps:

 

Stride Rideshare Driver App

Stride

Features:

  • Only a free version
  • Extremely accurate mileage tracking
  • Lightweight passive mileage tracking & Less Battery
  • Very good expense tracking – file your receipts and expense records
  • Walks you through which expenses can be tracked, geared towards rideshare drivers
  • Only one permission to install, no collecting data other than your locations
  • All your business deductions in one place
  • Add your bank account & or add your expenses manually
  • Stride specializes in health, vision, dental and life insurance benefits for independent contractors

Check Out Stride!

 

Hurdlr Mileage Tracking App

 

Hurdlr

Features:

  • Most accurate in one mileage tracking test (see below)
  • Tracks mileage automatically or manually
  • Free version includes expense and semi-automatic mileage tracking
  • Premium version automatic expense and income tracking with links to your financial accounts
  • Generate graphs to show your net earnings and expenses over time
  • Integrates with your Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Square, and bank account
  • In-app customer support from a real human
  • Data can be exported from the app and sent by email
  • Compare mileage tracker vs itemized expenses to save the most at year end

Check Out Hurdlr!

Gridwise Rideshare Driver App

Gridwise

Free Features:

  • Tracks mileage automatically or manually
  • Major event tracking & alerts up to a week ahead
  • Airport flight arrival & departing passenger volume
  • One app that does almost everything a rideshare driver needs
  • Use less cell battery with one app
  • Helps you make more income with surge, traffic, event and airport data
  • Real-time look at how far you’ve driven and how long you’ve driven for the current day, the previous day, and the entire week
  • View your weekly and daily results on the Earnings tab. This will include your total earnings and total number of trips given
  • Shift summary email with more detailed stats
  • Member benefits like car washes and insurance
  • Track your earnings across Uber & Lyft
  • Export mileage reports to help you with taxes
  • Real-time weather notifications

Paid Features:

  • 24 hour airport arrival & departure information
  • Make custom airport activity alerts
  • Make & set unlimited event alerts
  • No Ads
  • Priority Support
  • Much More

Check Out Gridwise!

You Will Want To Read This For More Info ===> Rideshare Mileage Tracking Apps

 

2. Tax Payment Rideshare Driver Apps

 

As an independent contractor, you are going to need an app that you can use to pay your taxes with and also get all your deductions. Here are three choices we recommend:

 

Turbo Tax

Self Employed: $120 + State is extra (Probably the best around – pricey)

  • Claims to Uncover industry-specific deductions they even have rideshare mentioned (wow)
  • One on one help on demand
  • They claim you get your maximum refund guaranteed
  • They feature a 1099 upload from your smartphone picture
  • They offer a year round tax estimator so there are no surprises since you know where you stand
  • Standard mileage versus expenses automatically chooses the higher option
  • Import directly from Uber & Lyft data

As amazing as Turbo Tax is for Rideshare drivers…. It is also amazingly overpriced and not necessary. Our pick is Tax Slayer!

Check Out Turbo Tax

Tax Act

Self Employed: $109.95 + State is extra (Very Robust Software – pricey)

  • They offer a deduction maximizer that finds all your tax breaks
  • They have a dedicated phone line, screen share capabilities and limited in-app chat support
  • You can import any type of tax document & it automates the data (wow – not needed for rideshare)
  • Software finds errors and omissions in your return that could increase your risk of an audit
  • Real-Time Refund Status shows you how much you are getting back based on what you have entered
  • Once your Federal tax is filled out it automates into state level to save you time
  • Get email notification and/or text as soon as your state return has been processed
  • Import taxes done in Turbo Tax or H&R Block

As amazing as Tax Act is …. It is also amazingly overpriced and not necessary. Our pick is Tax Slayer!

Check Out Tax Act

Tax Slayer

Self-Employed: $47​​ + State is extra (Our Preferred Choice – cheapest & does everything)

File your federal tax return for less is their moto.

  • You can print and e-file with Tax Slayer
  • Switching from another tax software is simple.
  • They allow you talk to a tax professional with self-employed expertise for your most difficult questions
  • ​They have a deduction finder that finds all your tax breaks (Includes 1099 filing and Schedule C)
  • They include unlimited phone, email, and live chat support
  • They have tax payment reminders all year if you want to make quarterly payments

Check Out Tax Slayer

3. Gas & Cash Back Rideshare Driver Apps

 

These apps will allow you to save or even earn some money. Apps like Get Upside and Gas Buddy are dedicated to gas savings and mapping gas stations in their GPS. They use crowd sourcing to keep track of gas pricing everywhere you can imagine.

Gas Buddy (Free & Paid)

This service saves you up to .25c a gallon via their free membership. You can use their app to find the best prices quickly while in transit and to see all the gas back offers they have. They have partnerships with many companies which give you gas credits. Earn gas back on each qualified purchase. Earn up to 10% of your purchase or a lump sum (think $10 to spend on gas). Redeem Gas at gas stations when you pay with your Pay with GasBuddy card. In addition to your GasBack, this free card saves you up to 25¢ per gallon.

They also have a premium membership for $9.99 mo. which saves up to .40C a gallon and also offers roadside assistance provided by Allstate. Includes tire changes, jumps, lockouts, and fuel delivery at your expense.

Check Out Gas Buddy

Get Upside (Free)

When you join GetUpside, you’ll save up to 25¢ per gallon every time you get gas.

It’s a free app, and thousands of stations are offering cash back. So, what are you waiting for? Follow the app instructions (either upload a receipt or just Check In) and earn cash back – real money – directly in the app. Get Upside partners with nearby businesses who want to win you over with offers you won’t find elsewhere. Earn cash back, and cash out whenever you want via PayPal, e-gift card or check.

  • Get Upside gives you cash back, but Gas Buddy is instant savings
  • Gas Buddy works everywhere mostly whereas Get Upside is not nearly as widely honored
  • Both Apps have special offers and retailers they offer savings through, But Gas Buddy has a lot more
  • Gas Buddy is easier to use, but Get Upside is not really complicated just a bit of a pain
  • Gas Buddy has some other features that make it more useful as well

Check Out Get Upside

You could use both of these if you want, we only use Gas Buddy.

 

Freebird (Free & Best Way To Refer Anyone To Uber & Lyft)

 

Another Cash Back app with interesting services. You can actually link either one of your Uber or Lyft accounts to Freebird and then start taking trips using its promo codes. Earn $10 cash back by taking your first two rides on Uber or Lyft using The Freebird App.You can also get cash back just by going out to restaurants and bars you might normally go to anyway.

This is the best way to refer anyone to drive for Uber or Lyft or to ride with either one as well. They save money and you make referral money from Uber and Lyft.

Get rewarded for going out! Get $10 when you take 2 rides using Freebird! Download the app below and enter the promo code wad2e before you take your first ride!

Check Out Freebird!

Read More About Freebird

 

4. Rideshare Driver Apps & GPS Apps

 

Obviously navigation apps and apps that help you find trips faster depending on where you are driving are two of the first types of apps every driver needs. Navigation apps are more than just simple maps with routes and places on them. These applications will actually provide you with tools to help with your navigation in the fastest way possible. Gridwise can help you locate events and people near where you are driving and if used properly can make you more money every time you rideshare drive.

 

Here are our only recommended apps to help with navigation and finding trips:

 

Gridwise (Free & Paid)

See description above

We highly recommend using Gridwise, Google Maps or Waze (if you are a must have Waze user), and Hurdlr or Stride. But compare the Google maps features below before using Waze.

 

Google Maps (Free)

You can hardly find a driver who hasn’t heard of this well-known app. Google Maps available for both android and iOS, provides drivers with useful options such as real-time traffic data, multiple route suggestions, and intelligent re-routing in case of getting off course. It still seems like the best app for its safety and features. First of all you can use it hands-free as you drive because it tells you when to turn and which lanes to get into before you get to them. It also has very accurate ETAs, re-routing, and gives you multiple route options with ETAs on all.

 

Waze (Free)

Waze definitely has its upside as it is a bit more responsive to load in congested areas than Google Maps. Waze is also crowdsourced real time info updates, which means sometimes it can be more reliable about accidents and so forth. But it can also be less reliable… overall we have found Google Maps to be very reliable regarding traffic. Waze also drains more battery than Google and does not have as many features which benefit ridesharing. Some people swear by it however.

 

Uber Nav (Free)

Uber Nav is Uber’s Google Maps api version of navigation. It provides drivers slightly faster loading of the map on routes. The app does have some functionality issues compared to normal Google Maps. Uber maps chooses the shortest distances versus Google maps, which chooses the fastest time. Google maps also has functions listed above unlike Uber Nav. All in all we recommend switching it off to Google Maps itself.

 

Lyft Nav (Free)

Lyft navigation is really just Google maps built into the Lyft app. It seems to be the best way to use the Lyft app. However some die hard Waze users prefer that over Google maps on Lyft. You can change the settings in your Lyft app to Waze very easily. Check out how on Lyft site if you are a die hard Waze user. Waze has been reported by some to be slower to use with Lyft, but try it out for yourself.

 

5. Airport Tracking Rideshare Driver Apps

 

Airports are definitely one of the most crowded spots where you can always find good ride requests for sure; and obviously, you are going to need an app that can notify you about flight schedules and airport traffic. You can use apps like Flightstats (or on IOS) for checking all incoming and departing flights. You can use FlightView (or on IOS) for info on delayed flights.

We highly recommend Gridwise above anything else for flight and airport information. See description above

 

6. Roadside Assistance Rideshare Driver Apps

 

We all know it is going to happen one day. So it’s wise to have some support in case of any emergencies with your vehicle on the road.

 

Gas Buddy (see above)

 

Uber Pro

Just for being an Uber Driver receive 20% off roadside assistance as an Uber Pro blue driver. You will receive free roadside assistance services up to 4 times yearly which includes: fuel delivery, jumps, lockouts, tire changes, and up to 25 miles towing. Earn 1 to 5 points per passenger trip in order to hit Gold level at 400 points to unlock the free service. We recommend Gas Buddy which covers all your road side assistance for times you are not at Gold level Uber Pro. Your Uber Pro points reset every 3 months and take at least a week or two to hit Gold level.

7. Music & Entertainment Rideshare Driver Apps

 

Of course, everybody needs something to enjoy both on break time and long boring roads. Some music apps sound like a plan.

 

Spotify (Paid & Free)

 

With both free and premium memberships, Spotify has the largest library of music on earth and is a very good app for raising your mood on trips. Offering many different options such as custom playlists and different music filters, premium members can also enjoy the offline service that allows them to download their favorite music tracks and create an offline playlist for times when they don’t have access to the internet. The premium membership is $9.99 per month.

Check Out Spotify

 

Pandora (Paid & Free)

 

A cheaper alternative than Spotify starting at $4.99 per month. There is also a free version with ads.

Check Out Pandora

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Thursday, August 20, 2020

The 6 Best Mileage Tracker Apps For Uber & Lyft Drivers

Driving for ridesharing companies has many benefits as you are actually your own boss. However, it also comes with costs such as self-employment taxes. In this article, we will show you how to lower your business taxes using the best mileage tracker app you can find.

New ridesharing drivers might not think of it as an important matter, but as an independent contractor, you should always keep track of the miles you drive. The reason is that none of these companies will reimburse you for the usage of your personal vehicle so all the money you spend on everything including car payments, insurance, gas, and maintenance is actually going to be paid out of your pocket. Lucky for you, the IRS allows you to receive some of your taxes back based on the miles you drive or your expenses. This is why you need a good mileage tracking app.

The standard IRS mileage rate for business use in 2020 is now 57.5 cents per mile. This means if you drive 100 miles each month, for example, there will be $57.5 back in your pocket off taxes you would have paid. That is why a good mileage tracking app comes in handy because you will need proof to show IRS the number of working miles you were driving.

 

Best Mileage Tracker App

 

Which Is The Best Miles App For Rideshare Drivers?

 

Here is a list of possible Mileage Tracking app Features:

  • IRS-complaint expense reports for mileage rates
  • All driving records saved to the cloud
  • Produce maps of your driving routes
  • Auto-detection – app detects automatically when you’re driving
  • Ability to upload photos of receipts and tag those receipts with a description, time and date
  • Categorize business vs. personal miles
  • Accuracy of mileage tracking
  • Amount of cell phone battery usage of the app

 

There are many mileage apps on the market, but you definitely want to use a mileage app that does what you need it to do as a ride share driver. Some of the features above are clearly important in choosing apps you want to use. For example a low rate of battery usage is a good thing since you already have other apps draining your battery. One way around this is just using one app to perform everything you need.

You want apps that are easy to use so you don’t get lost while trying to find a detailed report on your driving miles. Clearly, you don’t want to spend too much time figuring out how to work with that app when that time can be used earning money.

 

There are four functions that matter when evaluating the best mileage tracker app:

  • Tracking Miles (automatic or manual)
  • Itemized Expense Tracking
  • Major Event Tracking & Alerts
  • Airport Flight & Traffic Information

This is not to say you only want one app to handle all of these, but you want a top app for each function. Let’s break them down by features and cost.

We are only going to talk about the best of the best and not review every app out there. We have already evaluated everything and picked only our top players which have sterling reviews and functionality. There are also some free options of these apps, which will help you out when you begin rideshare driving.

 

Best Mileage Tracker & Tax Tracking Apps If You Already Use Them:

 

Mile IQ

Rating: 4.6 overall

Availability: iOS, Android. laptop, desktop, or tablet.

Cost: Free 40 drives per month. Or $5.99 mo. ($4.99 per month if billed annually).

Features:

  • Automatically logs your miles without needing to press any special buttons during trips
  • Integrates with Freshbooks and Excel
  • Creates a record of all your tax deductible and reimbursable mileage
  • Categorize each trip as either personal, charity, or professional with one swipe
  • Classify drives by category based on a schedule
  • Pull Drive reports anytime by time, location, events and more
  • Available from any device

Downside:

  • Free version is not realistic as a rideshare driver almost always does more than 40 trips a month
  • The mileage tracking accuracy has been questioned a bit? (please see study below)
  • Doesn’t include itemized expense tracking
  • Doesn’t include major event tracking & alerts
  • Doesn’t include airport flight & traffic information
  • Doesn’t integrate with your accounting software seamlessly
  • No manual tracking function
  • Does not support multiple income sources
  • Does not sync with credit card or bank
  • Does not track business & personal revenue
  • Cannot manually enter trips

 

Quickbooks Self Employed

Rating: 4.7 overall

Availability: iOS, Android. laptop, desktop, or tablet.

Cost: $12.50 mo.

Features:

  • Extremely accurate automatic mileage tracking
  • Track miles without draining your phone’s battery
  • Mileage data is saved and categorized to maximize deductions
  • Recommend whichever deduction is greater between mileage and itemized expenses
  • Receipts are stored, organized, and ready for tax time
  • Import expenses directly from your bank account
  • Sort business from personal spending
  • Track all expenses in one place and save time on taxes
  • Transaction information is seamlessly entered for you
  • We’ll match and categorize expenses automatically
  • Effortlessly invoice customers from your smartphone
  • Keep tabs on open invoices and send overdue notifications
  • Get paid faster by enabling online payments
  • Schedule and pay bills right from QuickBooks
  • Pay bills via bank transfer/debit card (free) or defer payments with a credit card (2.9%)
  • Choose the method of payment a vendor receives (direct deposit or physical check)
  • Available from any device
  • If you already use QuickBooks essentials this comes with the plan
  • App uses a low amount of mobile data

Downside:

  • Overpaying for tools you do not need unless you have a small business or other contracting job
  • Free version not available
  • Doesn’t print map lines of where you drive like Mile IQ, Stride, Everlance, Hurdlr & Gridwise
  • Cannot manually enter trips
  • Doesn’t include major event tracking & alerts
  • Doesn’t include airport flight & traffic information

 

Best Mileage Tracker & Tax Tracking Apps:

 

Everlance Mileage Tracker

Rating: 4.9 overall

Availability: iOS and Android

Cost: Free up to 30 rides a month, then $8/month or $60/year

Features:

  • Everlance mileage tracker has a clean look and simple interface and is easy to use.
  • Automatic IRS forms for mileage deductions
  • Expense tracking through photo receipts (helpful for car details, gas purchases, and more)
  • Automatic mileage tracking
  • Automatic categorization of type of miles based manual hours you choose
  • Compare mileage tracker vs itemized expenses to save the most at year end
  • Sync Banks & Credit Cards. Automate your expense tracking

Downside:

  • Users have reported some faulty automatic tracking, so make sure you test a few times before committing to pay
  • Heavy battery drain reported
  • You will need to use paid version as a rideshare driver almost always does more than 30 trips a month
  • Doesn’t include major event tracking & alerts
  • Doesn’t include airport flight & traffic information

 

Hurdlr

Rating: 4.7 overall

Availability: iOS, Android & Windows Web App

Cost: Basic version is free; full version $7.99/month or $58.99/year

Features:

  • Most accurate in one mileage tracking test (see below)
  • Tracks mileage automatically or manually
  • Free version includes expense and semi-automatic mileage tracking
  • Premium version automatic expense and income tracking with links to your financial accounts
  • Generate graphs to show your net earnings and expenses over time
  • Integrates with your Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Square, and bank account
  • In-app customer support from a real human
  • Data can be exported from the app and sent by email
  • Compare mileage tracker vs itemized expenses to save the most at year end

Downside:

  • Doesn’t include major event tracking & alerts
  • Doesn’t include airport flight & traffic information
  • Uses a bit more data than some apps
  • Some say it is slow starting but that depends on the phone

 

Stride

Rating: 4.8 overall

Availability: iOS and Android

Cost: Free

Features:

  • Only a free version
  • Extremely accurate mileage tracking
  • Lightweight passive mileage tracking & Less Battery
  • Very good expense tracking – file your receipts and expense records
  • Walks you through which expenses can be tracked, geared towards rideshare drivers
  • Only one permission to install, no collecting data other than your locations
  • All your business deductions in one place
  • Add your bank account & or add your expenses manually
  • Stride specializes in health, vision, dental and life insurance benefits for independent contractors

Downside:

  • Doesn’t automatically track mileage it’s manual, although this isn’t necessarily bad
  • Advertises health, vision, life & dental insurance to you constantly (that’s why it is free)
  • Doesn’t include major event tracking & alerts
  • Doesn’t include airport flight & traffic information

Best All In One Mileage Tracker, Expense Tracker, Event Tracker, Airport Tracker App

Gridwise

Rating: 4.8 overall

Availability: iOS and Android

Cost: Free or $8.33 per month premium

Free Features:

  • Tracks mileage automatically or manually
  • Major event tracking & alerts up to a week ahead
  • Airport flight arrival & departing passenger volume
  • One app that does almost everything a rideshare driver needs
  • Use less cell battery with one app
  • Helps you make more income with surge, traffic, event and airport data
  • Real-time look at how far you’ve driven and how long you’ve driven for the current day, the previous day, and the entire week
  • View your weekly and daily results on the Earnings tab. This will include your total earnings and total number of trips given
  • Shift summary email with more detailed stats
  • Member benefits like car washes and insurance
  • Track your earnings across Uber & Lyft
  • Export mileage reports to help you with taxes
  • Real-time weather notifications

Paid Features:

  • 24 hour airport arrival & departure information
  • Make custom airport activity alerts
  • Make & set unlimited event alerts
  • No Ads
  • Priority Support
  • Much More

Downside:

  • Does not do expense tracking YET! (they will soon)
  • Have had a few complaints the mileage tracker does not work sometimes

 

Mileage Tracking App – Accuracy Test

This test was taken from the Rideshare Guy

Odometer: 129 mi

  • MileIQ: 103.6 mi
  • QuickBooks Self-Employed: 129.8 mi
  • Everlance (not performed)
  • Hurdlr: 129 mi
  • Stride: 132.51 mi
  • Gridwise (not performed)

For the apps not tested we are not going to speculate how they might perform. Keep in mind this was a one time test only not using different conditions or vehicles. We do not see any major issues here with any of the apps Except Mile IQ looks out of line. If you use Microsoft 365 and want to use Mile IQ… please do some more research on it. We actually have Office 365 products and cannot verify Mile IQ is inaccurate at all.

 

The Final Evaluation

Remember drivers any app you pay for to help you perform better is tax deductible! So don’t be scared to spend a few dollars a month if it is going to help you make a lot more.

Gridwise stands out as the only tracker created to fulfill almost every need for rideshare drivers and it has almost everything you need with the free version to start out.

Our Recommendation at this point is to use Gridwise paid version for everything except mileage tracking and expense reporting. They claim it can help you make $300 more per week. We haven’t used Gridwise, but are about to use it combined with Stride App. Having driven Rideshare for 8 years we can verify that being in the right spots all the time will definitely boost your income. To say $300 a week seems high because many factors come into play. However it is possible and we will see how it works out and report back soon.

Gridwise collates data from APIs including: traffic services, social media, weather, events, local news and using data from drivers who use Gridwise app on their phones. 10’s of thousands of drivers use Gridwise. Alerts are compiled based on factors like airport traffic, weather conditions, locations that are busy due to major events. Also they take data from drivers using several ridesharing services such as: Uber, Lyft, Via and others.

We do not recommend using Quickbooks  unless you use it for business. In this case use Stride App as it has proper map GPS images for reporting as well as the ability to manually enter trip data, which comes in handy when you forget to turn on your mileage app. Stride is free and works perfectly and you can import data from it directly into Quickbooks. Combine Gridwise with this and you have a perfect system.

We have used Stride free version for years now and love it for tracking and taxes. We will try to use Gridwise & Stride going forward and report back how it works. We will not use Gridwise for mileage tracking until we have fully vetted it works right & they are also coming out with expense tracking. If these two things come together properly then Gridwise will become our only app.

Hurdlr also seems like a great option combined with Gridwise as Hrdlr is very robust and does alot of what Quickbooks does while also having possibly more upside than Stride.

You could combine any of these with Gridwise if you think Gridwise might not be the best for tracking and you can’t go wrong.

If you are trying to save every dollar try Stride or Hurdlr free versions combined with Gridwise free. But it seems Gridwise paid will be worth the small investment.

 

For More Great Savings Checkout: Rideshare Driver Apps

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Tuesday, August 18, 2020

10 Helpful Rideshare Driver Products & Services

As a ridesharing driver who is working with Uber or Lyft there are rideshare driver products & services which can improve your efficiency and ability to drive. These products & services will help you work more hours, save money and help with taxes. These services include different apps and software which you might find quite useful on your trips. Sometimes you can provide some simple but important items for your passengers as well.

There are also many items you might find useful for making your pickups faster and more fulfilling. Some of the products and services we mention can even give you some peace of mind and insurance in times of need. While we hope these situations never happen to someone, they happen more often than one might think.

On this page, we will update you with some of the best and most useful rideshare driving products and services, so check back often.

 

Rideshare Driver Products

 

Must Have Car Accessory Rideshare Driver Products

Ridesharing Company Sign: Working for Uber or Lyft? A Light-up sign will help your car be easier to spot by your passengers.

 

Phone Charger: Both you and your passengers will find a phone charger so useful, especially when there are multiple apps running such as Uber, Lyft, GPS, Social Media apps for when you are bored. Passengers will not only appreciate using a charger in your car, but some of them will also think twice about tipping you!!

 

Hanging Hook: Working for Uber Eats? Have a passenger who has some business clothes to carry? A simple hook can help you or your passengers a lot in situation that require one.

 

Dash Cam: Who knows what can happen on the road? A dash cam can help you a lot especially when you need proof of an accident you had while driving. Also, make it double and get a rear cam as it can help film what happens behind your car as well. You don’t want to be held responsible for something you didn’t do.

 

High-Quality Floor Mats:  It can be difficult to deal with lots of dirt and mud on your car floor unless you have the proper floor mats. They should be made of good materials especially when you have passengers from beach areas, a construction site or somewhere they might have picked up some dirty shoes.

 

Barf Bags: What if you get a passenger who is about to throw up? Are you going to let that happen on your seats? Having vomit bags in your car is a great idea. In fact, not having them is going to be something you regret deeply especially if your car is a rental.

 

Magnetic Phone Mounts: This item can make it a lot easier for you to handle your phone during your travels. You just have to make sure to get a good one that doesn’t allow your phone to fall off your dash.

 

First Aid Kit: In case of an accident, you may need a first aid kit before help arrives. It can actually save lives in some cases.

 

Getting Rid of a Traffic Ticket

Even the best drivers violate traffic laws by accident sometimes; and if that happens, maybe you want to have a backup plan to avoid paying that ticket out of your pocket from your earnings and tips. Get Dismissed can help you with that. It gives allows you to avoid some traffic tickets by paying only $49 upfront.

 

Must Have Apps to Use While Rideshare Driving

Mileage Tracking Apps: Apps like Stride Drive and Hurdlr are some of the best Mileage Tracking software you can use to keep a record of the distance you travel every time and save money on taxes.

 

You Will Want To Read: Milage Tracking Apps

 

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Thursday, July 30, 2020

What’s UberPool? The Benefits Of Using It

UberPool

 

Uberpool” otherwise known as Uber Carpool, not to be confused with Uber Express was put out on the market by Uber. It began in 2014 in San Francisco, Uber’s hub city, and the place where Uber began. So this is not a new idea and has been rolled out across more than 50 cities around the world since then.

Uber pool is Uber’s carpooling service that allows you to share your Uber ride with other riders. Lyft has a similar service called Lyft Line. Uberpool matches riders up with other riders heading the same direction and who are being picked up near the same pickup area or somewhere in line along the direct route.

How Does UberPool Work for Riders?

Uber’s carpooling service, UberPool, and Lyft’s comparable service, Lyft Line, are gaining popularity among drivers and riders. But maybe you haven’t quite figured this whole thing out yet and have questions. Have no fear, we’re here to answer your questions and let you know exactly how you can take advantage of these services if you so choose.

You now have the option of requesting a shared ride using the UberPool service (if it’s available in your city) for a discounted rate. This discount is anywhere from 20 to 60% less than a regular ride, depending on surge. There is a limit of 2 riders.

 

How Many Riders Are Allowed On Uber Pool?

One pickup can include two people, the rider and one friend. Each Uber Pool fare can only include 2 people. Uber pool can only have the maximum seats available in your vehicle being used at any one time. In other words if you have an empty seat available a new Uber Pool rider can hop in for a new fare share. Allowing you to make much more money provided your seats are semi-full.

 

Will Surge Pricing Still Apply To Uberpool?

Yes, Uberpool service is calculated using UberX pricing with discounts. The Uber surge pricing rules that get added to the first rider get added to secondary riders, too. An Uberpool fare will always save a rider money over what it would have cost them normally under Uber X. As a driver you may also make more than you might have with just one Uber X passenger. During busy times the math may favor you taking only your preferred Uber Class fares. (Uber XL, Uber SUV, Select, etc).

 

Is Uber Pool Price Per Person?

Uber Pool and Lyft Line carpool services both allow fares to request a seat for up to 2 people. The second person costs a slight fee. Riders will pay one fare as well as be charged an additional $1-$2 for your second passenger.

 

Can You Uber Pool With Luggage?

Yes, a passenger can certainly Uber Pool with luggage. Keep in mind however you could run into issues. If the driver’s car is full of luggage already you may need to order your own Uber. Ordering your own Uber will avoid these issues. Another option is to order a pool and text the driver if he has space for luggage still and explain the luggage you will be bringing. Remember in crowded cities a driver can’t predict what may happen.

 

Can A Passenger Still Change The Pickup Location Or Destination?

Once an Uberpool trip has started, changing the destination or pickup locations is not possible. The reason being is Uber Pool app must use original pickup and drop-off locations to match to other riders heading towards the same destination. If your passenger requests a destination change, you have the right to cancel the trip.

 

Where Is Uber Pool Available?, What Cities Have Uber Pool?

Uber Pool is only available within certain geo-fenced areas of major cities where population density is high enough for it to be a useful service. These cities and geo areas change as Uber sees a need to add a geo area.

 

How Does UberPool Work for Drivers

You will receive a flat pickup add-on fare for every stop you make after your first pickup. Your trip will be very much the same as any other Uber trip, but there may be several pickups and drop-offs along the route. The Uber app will always look for additional riders to pickup along any route you are on as long as you have your Uber app set to pickup Uber X/ Uberpool.

 

Does Uber Pool Pay More? Or Do Uber Drivers Get Paid Less For Pool?

You will receive a flat pickup add-on fare for every stop you make after your first pickup. Your trip will be very much the same as any other Uber trip, but there may be several pickups and drop-offs along the route. The Uber app will always look for additional riders to pickup along any route you are on as long as you have your Uber app set to pickup Uber X/ Uberpool.

As an Uber driver, you will or have undoubtedly asked if you can make more money driving Uber Pools than your normal Uber X or Uber XL or Uber Suv fare. The answer is no, Uber Pool will not pay you more most of the time. Discount varies according to city and time you take the fare. Carpool fares have been reported to generally earn between 25-40% less than normal Uber X fares.

Keep in mind a tip for making more earnings with Uber X, most of the time you will make more money accepting these types of trips. This is just due to the fact that you will stay busy constantly if you make yourself available to all types of fares. Would you rather stay busy and make $100 in a shorter amount of time or would you rather make the same amount taking fewer fares but waiting longer?

This is what you are up against being an Uber Driver. Time vs. Money vs. Capital (your car). Please check out our article on How to Estimate Capital Expenses When Driving Rideshare – Your Time Vs. Your Money

The answer to that is not always the same for each trip when you will have multi passengers even though pool costs 35-40% less obviously multiple pool fares will net you more than one Uber passenger of any kind. However, these types of scenarios will only really apply in super busy cities.

In most cases, it is best to think about your driving from the most money the fastest point of view…. or from the same money slower point of view (with less car driving). Try both in your city for a few weeks and see which works best for you.

Major Driver Tip: Uber rewards drivers who drive more fares of all kinds and rightly so right? They need to have you available as much as possible as a resource. This is what allows Uber to provide their 24/7 all car services to the world. One example is when you are available to pick up people all over town you may get a trip to the airport. Uber will then give you priority to pick up another passenger leaving the airport over drivers who sit in the cue line of the airport waiting for outbounds.

 

How Long Will You Wait For A Secondary Uber Pool Pickup?

Drivers can only wait for up to two minutes for additional riders with Uber Pool.

 

Can Uber Drivers Turn Off Uberpool?, How Do I Stop Uber Pool Requests?, Can I Opt Out Of Uberpool?

Yes you can opt out of UberX and Uber Pool as per the app options themselves, but If you are an Uber X driver you will have to allow pool rides as well as X. Other drivers who are not Uber X can choose to opt out of Uber Pool they also will not receive Uber X trips as UberX/Uber Pool is now one toggle option in the app.

 

You Might Also Like: UberX Vs Uberpool Vs Express Pool

 

Ridesharing It - Ridesharing Help For Riders & Drivers

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

3 Critical Points Will Maximize Your Rideshare Driving Profits

Why am I not earning as much as other drivers are? This is the main question that you ask as a driver: How can I maximize rideshare driving profits? Why did I end up with no savings this month? Many drivers are asking this because they are not satisfied with their earnings driving for Uber and Lyft. Well, the thing is, sometimes you need to take a closer look at your budget and see that earning the highest possible amount of money from driving may not necessarily lead to savings.

There are many other elements you need to take into consideration such as the cost for insurance, taxes, gas and food savings, and so on. Your driver score can also affect your earnings and the type of cars such as Uber Select or Lyft Lux and Black classifications. Earning more when driving rideshare is not just a time + distance equation. You need to set a budget on all expenses (including the type of car you will drive), maximize earnings, and save money where possible.

 

Maximize Rideshare Driving Profits

The 3 Critical Points To Maximizing Rideshare Driving Profits Are:

  • Staying Within A Budget
  • Maximizing Profits
  • Saving Money

 

Staying Within A Budget When Rideshare Driving

The concept of having a budget is probably The Most Important thing any person can do financially in their life. The concept seems simple and maybe even seems like a child would know this. We can just hear a kid saying “But I already know that!” The truth is having a budget is purely about will power. When you go to get in shape initially you say you will lift weights every day for 3 hours, but it never stays that way because you set the standard too high and this type of war is won from many small battles.

How do you set a budget and stick to it, so you don’t overspend and you can actually start Saving Money? Ah yes, a budget is basically what it takes to save money. So we make as much money as possible or maximize profits, but we also set a budget so we can save money. We can also maximize savings a bit more by making sure the services and the costs of doing business are minimized and we are not overspending on the things we do need to spend money on rideshare driving.

This info is not meant to be condescending to you as we know you know this, BUT can you do it consistently?

Most people cannot and this is the difference between most people in any career.

So how can you do this and keep a baseline of spending so you can start to keep more of the money you earn?  A Budget means setting a realistic baseline for what you will spend based off of what you are capable of earning per day, per week, per month. So your spending budget will include food, gas, insurance, phone, mints or water for passengers, maintenance, car-washing, cleaning, and anything else you might need to make more money or keep your business going.

When calculating these costs you will, for example, set a budget for food expenses per day of $20 to cover two meals and a few drinks and some mints. You will set a cost for gas per week based on how much it took to earn whatever you make your first week. You will calculate the cost of insurance per month, phone bill per month, a maintenance amount per year broken down into weekly amounts, car-washing on a monthly amount, etc.

Then you have a budget to work from and your job is to set your earnings level above that by the level of your needed income. Now make no mistake the amount you can earn driving is capped by hours allowed and how tiring it can be to drive too much. We have never maxed that out personally because it just wasn’t worth it to work that much for us, but we have worked 60 hours a week which is a lot.

Gas is a big expense in rideshare driving second only to your car payment. You can set a budget for gas per week based on earnings desired. So if you want to earn 1k per week before expenses for example. You could say you will need to drive  40-50 hours a week. What does that translate into in milage? That will vary greatly based on where and when you drive. We will give you the best advice on how to make the most with the least driving miles below.

You will want to read more about deciding to rent or own a car for ridesharing<— HERE

 

Maximizing  Rideshare Driving Profits

This war is won by many small battles, right? You need to know it is possible to make X amount daily and that you can accomplish that number.

You need to know you can make X amount daily and do it 4,5,6 days a week or however much is possible to hit your weekly number based on daily efforts and how many days you need to and are capable to drive for X amount of hours. You can only drive a maximum of 12 consecutive hours a day for Uber or Lyft. After 12 hours you must be off of drive mode for 6 hours before you can drive again.

This means the most you can drive in a week is 112 hours, but that is not possible as you will need to sleep and do any number of other things during a week. The most one could really work and be effective in life would be 12 hours a day or 84 total hours a week.

The amount you can make in a week will be limited by how much business is available based on the hours and locations that you drive. Some people report making $30 an hour all week long as an average and some report making $15. Your job is to maximize your earnings based on how and where you work.

Tips On How To Earn More With Lyft & Uber

  • Try To Stay And Drive In The City:

If you are in a big city, try to stay there and find trips. It’s easier to find more trips in populated areas than in the suburbs. However, if you are driving in a small city, this might be different for you.

  • Check The Passenger App

If you want to be able to accept more ride requests, you may want to check the Passenger App to see if there are too many other drivers in your area, and if there are, you can go to another area with fewer drivers available. Of course, if an area is super busy and has a lot of drivers you still want to wait there or maybe move just slightly out of the area to a zone with fewer cars.

  • Don’t Drive Unless You Have A Request

Don’t think of gas as a joke. You are paying for it. It adds up over time and costs more than it seems at first and the more you drive without a passenger, the more money you are going to lose over time. So find a good spot to park your vehicle while you are looking for requests.

  • Benefit From Surge Pricing / Prime Time Driving For Uber/Lyft

Driving at peak hours when there are more requests for rides than usual can really lead to higher earnings for drivers who are willing to drive during those periods.

However, some say this is a waste of time because most other drivers actually try to do the same thing which makes finding ride requests harder. Some drivers say this can be a real advantage to earn more money. We can say for sure it’s not a waste of time. In fact, different cities might have different peak hours and situations. So the best you can do is try driving a few different schedules and see if it really makes a difference.

The busiest times are mornings and evenings during rush hours and Evenings and weekends when people are going out a lot. However, another good strategy is to drive when no drivers are working because even when it is slow you will get all the trips. Uber and Lyft always have trips but not always a lot of drivers. Try it both ways.  If there are lots of passengers who need rides in your city, you’ll see hot spots on the map on your home screen. Just drive toward these high-demand areas to get ride requests.

Check Out: Driver’s Guide To Pay & Uber Pro

  • Have Good Insurance (Maybe More of A Don’t Lose Money Consideration) 

Good drivers always know the value of good insurance so they don’t make the mistake of having an accident without it. You never know when one may happen, and you don’t want to pay out of your pocket because you can’t afford it from rideshare driving. Also, it is important to have good information about different insurance companies and compare them to each other so you find the one which is the most suitable for your situation.

Yes, Uber and Lyft both provide insurance coverage for their drivers, but there are some gaps you need to cover on your own so that’s where good insurance companies can cover you with special plans for ridesharing drivers.

  • Uber Cartop Displays

Uber is going to pay very well for drivers who are going to help the company with its commercial purposes.

What they are offering you is to install an Uber cartop on your car in exchange for $300 upfront and $100 every week. It takes only about an hour to install it on your car and it’s guaranteed by Cargo. However, because it might impact your vehicle insurance, it’s best that you consult with your auto insurance provider if it will affect your insurance cost.

Vehicles with sunroof, moonroof, or a roof rack can not be modified with cartop display.

Check Out Cargo <— HERE

  • Keep Your Rating High

Having a good driver rating will help you to earn more trips, rewards, and benefits from Uber and Lyft and increase your monthly income. It also encourages more riders to select you as their driver versus a driver with a lower rating. Check It Out —> Lyft Rewards – Lyft Benefits & Uber Pro

  • Take A Break

It is going to help a lot if you take breaks between your driving hours, even if it’s a short one. Working consistently will make you tired faster than usual especially during peak hours. So having a small break can really improve your efficiency and attention.

  • Provide Service & Safety

Yes. Driving safe, maintaining regular speed, arriving promptly, and having a nice looking vehicle all affecting your ratings and tips. But does it really matter if you don’t have a good relation with your passenger? Being nice and friendly is one of the most important things you have to keep in mind and the other things above make you look professional to the passenger without even needing to appear in a suit and tie. The passengers don’t expect that anyhow.

You just need to look clean as well as your vehicle and mirror the demeanor of your passenger. In other words, if they really do not want to talk do not make them, sometimes people are just trying to relax so do not bother them if they have that disposition. You can professionally ask them if they have a preferred route versus the recommended fastest route being suggested by your GPS.

Remember that just because a route was suggested as the fastest that can change in a minute based on traffic or construction. Politely remind the passenger about this so they do not blame it on your routing abilities and suggest taking the new recommended faster route if there is one in your GPS.

It is better to be safe than sorry. There are a few things you need to check to make sure you will have a safe trip:

Always have a first aid kit in your vehicle
Try to use a phone mount to avoid distraction while driving
Make sure to pick up your passenger at a safe spot
Make sure to have regular maintenance on your car

  • Use Referrals and Signup Bonuses

Promo codes and signup bonuses offered by ridesharing companies you are driving for can really make a difference in your earnings. Make sure to check your driver app for these and try to use them as soon as one is available.

  • Ridesharing Tax Write-Offs 

Please do not forget tax write-offs are huge on ridesharing. You can write off in 2020 at .57.5c a mile. We have always used the standard mileage rate deduction as it always saves us more, BUT please feel free to calculate it by itemizing all your expenses and see which is best!

You might not want to save all itemized expenses manually as it is a pain and a half, but rather use a tax, mileage and expense app to track everything and it will automatically show you which is best at the end of the year. Read About Ridesharing Tax Apps <—HERE

You can still claim some car expenses if you take the standard mileage rate deduction as well as other operating expenses and also receive a qualified business income deduction or QBI.

Read More About Ridesharing Taxes <— HERE

 

Saving Money On Rideshare Expenses

This is the last main step to making more money with ridesharing is to simply do not overspend on the things you MUST have in order to ride share properly or to make more money driving ride share. Ask yourself how to save money on things, for example, how can you save more money on gas consumption per week?

You can use a gas app like Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas nearest to you to save up to .25c a gallon or even pay only $9.99 a month in order to save up to .40c a gallon.

That means you can save up to $4 for every 10 gallons you pump or around $6 dollars for an 18-gallon tank. That adds up at two-tank fulls a week on an 18-gallon tank to $12 a week minimum. $40-$50 a month might not seem like much, but it adds up to $500-$600 a year. Also, see above on how to strategize your driving and when to wait.

Do you want to buy a rideshare milage app or tax app? Remember it is a tax write off as well as making saving money easier, so it is probably worth the cost.

Do you want to buy an app like Gridwise or Sherpa Share, that shows you events happening in town as well as airline information in real-time? This info can also help you make more money by staying busy BUT as long as you are able to stay busy it doesn’t matter where you are getting your riders from for the most part and it doesn’t make sense to drive to a location if you are not already near it, UNLESS it is hyper-busy because the bonus amounts you can earn can really be a game-changer.

For example… driving 45 minutes to get to a busy area makes no sense at all unless you know you can constantly pull trips out of the area over and over without having to drive them far often. In this way, you may make many short to medium trips rather quickly. For example in a college town you know you will be very busy on the weekends with many short trips around the town.

Can you get something similar that does the job as well and save money with every 100% necessary purchase you are making?

This is what Saving money on Rideshare expenses means.

 

Make Driving Rideshare Easier: Ride Share Products & Services

Ridesharing It - Ridesharing Help For Riders & Drivers

Thursday, July 23, 2020

The #1 Best Rideshare Insurance Protection Options

All drivers who are driving for a rideshare company should know the fact that not every accident that happens to them is covered by their personal insurance or the ride sharing company’s insurance. That’s where Rideshare insurance is different.

Rideshare insurance is what Uber and Lyft drivers need to have complete insurance coverage of their cars so they are sure there is no accident that can happen to them without coverage. In this article, we will explain the details about different kinds of insurance available, and the best insurance you can use.

You do have the option of taking personal insurance and not telling your insurance company you are driving for Uber and Lyft… This sounds great and it works UNTIL they find out because you got into an accident of any type. If this happens you are not only not fully protected but can have your insurance suspended.

Another major risk is you need some kind of insurance to keep you covered between your trips as personal insurance will not cover you if they find out you were driving rideshare with normal insurance. In this case, it is highly advised to look into a better type of personal insurance that covers rideshare drivers while between trips. It will cost more but also protect you from the consequences of no coverage while waiting for trips.

 

Rideshare Insurance

 

The above image shows the different stages of service you will be in as a ride-sharing driver. It is important to know which type of insurance protects you and passengers at which stage you are in when driving.

  • When you are in offline mode on your Uber or Lyft app you are protected by your personal insurance coverage or your personal ridesharing coverage
  • When you are available or online but not en route or on a trip you may have coverage gaps that are neither covered by personal insurance or Lyft and Uber Insurance
  • When you are en route or on a trip you will be fully covered by Uber or Lyft insurance

Uber and Lyft’s commercial policies always protect drivers but are liability-only during the “available” stage of a rideshare trip. What that means is only liable for accidents caused by their contracted driver. So this leaves you unprotected because you are not covered by your personal insurance or Uber or Lyft if someone slams into you.

So the best option for any rideshare driver is to get rideshare specific insurance coverage. There are many companies out there that sell rideshare car insurance as a more expensive insurance than just personal car insurance, but how do you find the coverage you need at the best price???

 

Insurify Rideshare Insurance

There are three main types of rideshare insurance policies

  • Additional Protection – An insurance company gives you added protection in the form of “gap coverage” while you are online for Uber or Lyft. This gives you protection for what is not covered with Uber or Lyft’s coverage.
  • Personal Insurance Extensions – These plans just extend your personal insurance coverage into a ridesharing trip with the same insurance provider.
  • Hybrid Insurance – This replaces your personal insurance plan with a rideshare plan.

So which is best?

Instead of offering you all of our affiliate links based on the most money we can make from different offers out there… the absolute best way to get what you need at the lowest rate possible after looking at every single offer on the market and seeing how we could make the most money off of you… We found Insurify.com

And honestly, it answered every question about ride share insurance, but more importantly, is a free insurance comparison site. It gives you real-time accurate cheapest option quotes from all the top car insurance companies.

Use Insurify’s simple and fun system to get Rideshare Driver specific insurance quotes.

Insurify RideShare Insurance

Try It For Yourself… It’s The Best

Insurify RideShare Insurance

 

Uber Rideshare Insurance

As a ride-sharing company, Uber provides its drivers with “Driver-Partner Insurance.” But this insurance has several coverage gaps that can leave you vulnerable.

The Liability coverage offered by Uber is $50,000 per person on bodily injury, up to $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage coverage. This is the liability that Uber maintains from the time you are online with Uber until you accept a trip, and it also applies if your personal auto policy does not provide coverage or if your policy’s limits are less than these amounts.

On the other hand, according to Uber’s website, if you are en route to pick up a rider or if you are on a trip, Uber will insure you for 3 things:

Third-party liability coverage

– Insures bodily injuries or damages you’ve caused to your riders, people in other vehicles, pedestrians, or property.

– Coverage limits vary by state but are at least $1,000,000.

Uninsured or underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage

– Insures you and your riders if an accident occurs on a passenger trip and another driver is at fault and doesn’t have sufficient insurance, as well as hit and runs

– Coverage limits vary by state

Contingent comprehensive and collision coverage

 – As long as you maintain comprehensive and collision coverage on your personal auto insurance, Uber will provide drivers with physical damage coverage up to the actual value of the damaged vehicle, no matter who is responsible for the accident. There is a $1,000 deductible that you must pay first before this coverage applies. That’s where there may be a gap in this system. We did experience one accident caused by an icy road which resulted in our vehicle sliding into the back of another vehicle.

Fortunately, because we were driving very slow there were no injuries to our passengers or the other vehicle’s passengers. We did have several thousands of dollars of vehicle damages to both our vehicle and one other vehicle and ended up having a $1,000 deductible with Uber’s insurance. Uber’s insurance coverage actually gave us $800 to cover the deductible as well so we ended up only paying $200 on the deductible. Not bad considering everything, but it still costs more than a day’s profits so that hurts.

 

Lyft Rideshare Insurance

Lyft insurance is similar to Uber insurance. As soon as drivers turn on the Lyft app and start driving, Lyft will provide third-party liability insurance for covered accidents if their personal insurance doesn’t apply. Here is the Lyft coverage plan for accidents:

  • $50,000/person for bodily injury
  • $100,000/accident for bodily injury
  • $25,000/accident for property damage

If the app is on and drivers are about to pick up a passenger or making a trip, Lyft will provide the following insurance for covered accidents:

  • $1,000,000 for 3rd-party auto liability 
  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury 
  • Contingent comprehensive & collision up to the actual cash value of the car ($2,500 deductible).

 

So the real question is how much of the deductible they cover and we don’t know the answer. What you need to know is if you cause an accident with Uber or Lyft you will be required to pay something out of pocket. With Uber, it is not more than 1k and with Lyft, it is not more than 2.5k. Be prepared in case you have to pay either of these yourself and maintain a 2.5k savings just in case, but hope for the best like what happened with our accident scenario where we were only on the hook for $200.

How or why we were paid $800 out of $1000 is a complete mystery to us but we are guessing you won’t be on the hook for the full deductibles either. HERES TO HOPING.

 

Check Out Insurify… Get The Absolute Best & Cheapest Rideshare Insurance

You Definitely Want To Read: How To Maximize Rideshare Profits

Ridesharing It - Ridesharing Help For Riders & Drivers

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

6 Lyft Rental Car Partners Best Payment Plans To Maximize Profit

As a Lyft driver, using a Lyft rental car or not, there are many factors you need to observe so you can maximize your profits. The fact is, no one can say for sure if using a rental car is bad or if using your car is good. What you need to take into consideration is a mixture of your monthly income, insurance and maintenance costs, taxes, weekly rent for the vehicle you are using (if you decide to go with rental option), and so on. Using a rental car for Lyft definitely has its advantages which we went over in our article on using a rental car for Uber.. you can check out the advantages -> here.

Lyft Rental Car Express Drive

Car Rental With Lyft Express Drive

Thanks to Lyft Express Drive, you can start your driving career even if you don’t own a car. After you sign up in this program, it will help you to locate rental car providers, see prices, and other program details based on the city you are in so you can rent a car and start making trips. The price you pay for a rental car includes insurance and maintenance costs. Also, the time period for renting a car is flexible and there is no long-term commitment to it. drivers will also be responsible for any additional fees such as late returns, refueling, tolls, and tickets.

 

How Much Does Express Drive Cost?

Denver

Weekly rate
$179 – $329

Prices are based on how many personal miles you need, and the kind of car you pick.

Refundable deposit required

Rental deposit may be returned in full, per the terms of your rental agreement, when you opt-out of Express Drive. The above rates vary by market and are subject to Lyft’s terms and conditions and applicable taxes and fees. Driver Rate Card may also be reduced. Check Rate Card details in your Lyft Driver Dashboard for more information.

 

What’s included with Express Drive?

  • Insurance and standard maintenance so you can drive worry-free.
  • Drive unlimited miles for Lyft and get extra miles for personal use.
  • Flexibility to return when you want with no long term commitments.

Please note that due to the high number of requests for renting a car at Lyft Express Drive program, it might take a little time before there is a vehicle available for rent, so you might want to keep an eye on Driver Dashboard In Lyft app to check the list of available cars as soon as there is one.

You can simply follow instructions below to become an Express Driver:

  1. Apply to drive at lyft.com/expressdrive if the Express Drive program is available in your city If you’re already an approved driver, visit the ‘Vehicles’ tab of your Driver Dashboard, then tap the ‘Rent a Vehicle’ button to get started
  2. You must be 25+ years old to rent a vehicle
  3. You must meet Lyft’s driver requirements
  4. After you’re approved to drive, you can schedule a vehicle pickup
  5. Once you provide a refundable deposit, you’ll be able to pick up the vehicle and get on the road
  6. Note: Express Drive rentals cannot be used for any other ‘for-hire’ service, including (but not limited to) Postmates, Shipt, and Uber. Rental vehicles must be rented through the Express Drive program to be approved for use on the Lyft platform.

Here is also the list of cities the Express Drive is available in:

Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Charlotte, NC
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Fort Worth, TX
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
Virginia Beach / Hampton Roads / Norfolk, VA
Oakland, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, OR
Providence, RI
Sacramento, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, D.C.

 

Hertz Lyft

 

Hertz Lyft Rental Car

Hertz is one of the companies with many years of experience in renting cars with a large vehicle selection. However, it’s one of the companies which filed for bankruptcy due to the devastation of its business by COVID-19, but they are still providing their services during the proceedings. So it’s not highly recommended for renting a vehicle.

Check Out Hertz Rental Options >>> Here

 

Getaround Lyft

Getaround Lyft Rental Car

Getaround is another carsharing platform which is active in 300 cities (and 7 countries) with over 5 million users and a large selection of vehicles containing more than 1000+ car models. This company provided this chance for drivers to search and rent the vehicles they need, sharing by people nearby without the need to meet the owner to exchange keys.

Check Out Getaround Rental Options >>> Here

 

Hyrecar Lyft

Hyrecar Lyft Rental Car

Try renting a car and start driving for any ridesharing services you like with HyreCar without paying any fees except for your rent or signing any contracts. Available for daily, weekly, or monthly rentals. A bridge to connect the owner and driver with preset rules by the owner.

Check Out Hyrecar Rental Options >>> Here

 

Turo Lyft

Turo Lyft Rental Car

Way better than a rental car !!

This is what you can expect from Turo. Name the place and the time period, and you are all set to start using the shared vehicle in a totally safe and clean condition with contactless check-in options. You can cancel your request free of charge within 24 hours before your trip starts.

Check Out Turo Rental Options >>> Here

 

Zipcar Lyft

Zipcar Lyft Rental Car

Another fast way to find a proper car for your needs. Takes only a couple of minutes to join them with a valid driver’s license. Start driving with the selected car and return it to the same spot where you picked it up from after you are done.

Check Out Zipcar Rental Options >>> Here

 

You Will Want To Compare Renting Vs. Ownning A Car

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